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With
all the talk of monumental mortgage losses in 2007, it would be easy to
assume it was a bad year for corporate earnings, but that wasn't the
case for all companies. Which firm made a
total annual profit of $40.6 billion ($1,300 per second) in 2007 -- the most ever for a U.S. company?
A.) Wal-Mart (WMT)
B.) ExxonMobil
(XOM)
C.) Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-B)
D.) Microsoft (MSFT)
E.) ConocoPhilips (COP)
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Published:
March 2, 2008
The
correct answer is
(B.) ExxonMobil
That's
right, ExxonMobil brought in record
profits of $1,300 per second last
year. The firm's profits -- attributed to "strong
results in all business segments"
--
were larger than the GDP of over 60%
of the countries in the world, and
its revenues of $300 billion were only surpassed by the GDPs of the
richest 27 countries. Meanwhile, the
firm currently trades with a
price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of
only 12.
It's no surprise then that P/E-based funds, like the
WisdomTree Low P/E Index Fund (AMEX: EZY),
weigh ExxonMobil particularly heavy
in their portfolios.
The fund begins with the most
prodigious earnings generators in
the large-cap universe and then
only selects those with the lowest
P/E ratios in the group. Overall, EZY's
diversified portfolio of nearly 700
stocks sports a compelling average
P/E of just 11 and offers an
above-average yield of 2.6%. More
importantly, backtested data shows
shareholders would have seen
outsized gains of +11.9% annually
over the past five years.
The WisdomTree Low P/E
Index Fund is just one example of
the quality finds
ETF Authority editor Nathan
Slaughter is considering adding to
his actively managed portfolios. To learn more about
The ETF Authority newsletter,
and to learn all about the funds
Nathan is looking to add right now, please
visit this link.
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